Thursday, May 31, 2012

Siskiyou is a collaborative project between Canadian musicians Colin Huebert, formerly of Great Lake Swimmers, and Erik Arnesen, who still plays with that group. Their name comes from a coastal mountain range that stretches from southwestern Oregon into northern California and is home to what is likely the world’s only Bigfoot trap. The cover of their self-titled debut features a heart-wrenching portrait of the Sasquatch on its cover. Rendered in beautifully colored crayon, the legendary loner appears unusually humanoid. His features are worn; his eyes are mournful and weary; and what might at first sound like a tossed-off, goofy idea for a record cover is in fact a perfect, poignant emblem for the collection of songs at hand.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

With Vol. 1, Young Man mastermind Colin Caulfield leaves his dorm room for his first studio album with a full band. The second in a planned three-album cycle, Vol. 1 sports a meatier sound, with Caulfield augmented by more instrumentation and more band members. Opener "Heading" is a warm, hazy trip with a meandering keyboard and soothing bassline. "By and By" ambles with easygoing hums and bright, shimmering reverbed guitars, while "21" pulsates with an intense, swirling piano lead that morphs into the deliberate, aggressive snares and disorienting guitar melodies. - RS

David Lowery lead Camper Van Beethoven, Cracker and a solo album released last year. This compilation plots his voyage from indie ska band, indie pop band, alt-country band to finally a rootsy solo album.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Sebastian started Sunday off on a high, with "real hard hitting" during football camp. He was hot, tired, and happy. Off for some fuel before his next activity...

The Regional Junior Chess Tournament. He was the defending champ, but was pretty relaxed about the whole process, he had game face! Was a comeback King with 3 wins 2 losses, starting of in 9th and finishing in 4th. What a day... It is only appropriate to get silly wet.

Scottish quintet Admiral Fallow has released its first proper music video from their forthcoming sophomore effort, Tree Bursts in Snow.

The band worked with Paul Savage (Franz Ferdinand, Mogwai, Teenage Fanclub) in Glasgow to mix and produce Tree Bursts in Snow . Greg Calbi —who has worked with Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes and The National— mastered the record in New York City.
Vocalist Louis Abbott says about Tree Burst In Snow"...the title refers to the sound and the image of an artillery shell exploding into a cluster of snow-drenched trees... I'm also astounded by the sheer volume of gun related violent crimes throughout the world but in particular in the U.S. '"

Thursday, May 17, 2012

This is a workshop series from ETSB. My college Thierry Refour (Mr.T) loves to get the students involved in their learning, and this video will give you a taste of just that! Looks like he is experimenting with iMovie, lots of flash and sounds. Very cool.

"Darwin chased God out of his old haunts in biology, and he scurried for safety down the rabbit hole of physics. The laws and constants of the universe, we were told, are too good to be true: a setup, carefully tuned to allow the eventual evolution of life. It needed a good physicist to show us the fallacy, and Victor Stenger lucidly does so. The faithful won't change their minds, of course (that is what faith means), but Victor Stenger drives a pack of energetic ferrets down the last major bolt hole and God is running out of refuges in which to hide. I learned an enormous amount from this splendid book."—Richard Dawkins

Before listening to this record I had never heard of Maika Makovski but by the end of it I was in love with her lush voice and swirling tunes.

The album begins with “Language” that builds slowly with instruments being added as the song goes along. Beginning with bass, then drums, then vocals then Maika on piano. It’s 232 seconds of brooding pop loveliness. On “Get Along” Makovski sings ”You know you’re stuck with me, I know I’m stuck with you” much to my liking. I’d happily listen to these songs all day. It’s a thundering foot-stomper built that, along with “Your Reflection”, show her penchant for big fun choruses with a punch. It sounds a bit like a radio-friendly version of Cat Power.

What scientific concept would improve everybody’s cognitive toolkit? This is the question John Brockman, publisher of Edge.org, posed to the world’s most influential thinkers. Their visionary answers flow from the frontiers of psychology, philosophy, economics, physics, sociology, and more. Surprising and enlightening, these insights will revolutionize the way you think about yourself and the world.

When Dallas four-piece Bowling For Soup come to mind, cue thoughts of silly music videos, jokey lyrics and light-hearted pop punk. But take frontman Jaret Reddick from the band and pair him up with Smile Smile singer and guitarist Ryan Hamilton, then you have People On Vacation- an unusual mix of indie and pop-punk that is sure to surprise and bring a dose of sunshine to your speakers.

This year marks Woody Guthrie’s 100th birthday, and our modern musicians have not let any commemorations fall by the wayside. The anniversary brings tribute concerts spread throughout the year, as well as new recordings by Guthrie’s legion of fans.

The first Mermaid volume sounds as gorgeous as it did upon its initial release in 1998. Bragg and Tweedy trade off powerful vocals, while the rest of Wilco’s musical input is just as important to the project’s outcome.

I was in a school today in Stanstead, Qc. and witnessed the hatching of a small chick. The kids were floored to watch the very slow process of this tiny bird breaking through it's husky shell, slime and all!